...or the small adventure that we women sometimes go through, in order to choose an outfit.
Now, on a small parenthesis here, I know that I do not usually post about fashion here, but since I'm so interested in the overall concept of styling in all its possible domains, I thought I give it a shot also here, other than my flickr account where there's a set of pictures devoted to styling and fashion....through my eyes always...the focus being mostly inside, even when we talk about or are involved in more - seemingly - superficial actions & things...
So, to go back where we started from...the adventure of choosing an outfit...I'm sure it has happened to many of us, in different ways. Sometimes it happens in a second, others there's a little bit more time needed or simply...a little time to go shopping in our own wardrobe, giving a fresh new look to clothes living in our closets for years, by making new combinations, adjusted to our current moods and influenced a tiny bit by current trends.
....not too much...not too little...as balance in general is the key to successful styling....in colours, in texture, in shapes...and of course in the way we feel!
This is the outfit I chose to wear yesterday, which was actually the second idea in the raw, among the one with the jean skirt and the one with the colourful floral bag. It is Springy but in a rather quiet way, as I believe it fits better to April, while the latter one fits better in May...
I like to take my outfits gradually from one season to another, as much as I also like a sense of continuity to exist from one day to the other, from one outfit to the other...
Everything in nature happens gradually and there are natural circles for everything...
In autumn for example, the colour of the leaves changes gradually until they fall and flowers bloom and aquire their full colour day by day in Spring.
Part of the essence of styling is that one is in accordance with nature's cycles by adjusting the outfits chosen and by going through stages, like participating in a charming dance!
Styling of course, should most of all reflect the personality of a person and focus on the positive physical characteristics, whichever they may be. Others are more gifted and others are less. The key is to accept ourselves for who we are, including our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our thoughts, our immediate environments and even the countries we live in.
Dressed up like being on vacation on an exotic,a Greek, or any other island, while actually being in the middle of a city, doesn't exactly promise successful outfits!...this is my humble view on the matter of course...
There's the right time and place for everything and success lies in being in accordance with them.
But the most important element is to be in accordance with our true selves. Then we wear our clothes, rather than them wearing us and elegance doesn't depend on spending huge ammounts!
Smart shopping, ability to recognise quality over label ( not that they do not coexist of course!) and a consistent style which adjusts to seasonal trends with small additions, all contribute to building a wardrobe to keep over years and making us proud, looking back, for our choices.
For me, it started 10 years ago, in my mid 20s, after I had experimented and enjoyed various styles, youthness being my aliby.
Hippy chic and bohemian chic were my most beloved styles, but over the years I reached to the point of being able to elicit through styles, the predominant one, being my personal one: this which expresses my whole existence.
As much as there are various styles that can be named both in decoration and fashion, I strongly believe that there should be exactly as many styles, as there are people and as there are homes!
I'm fanscinated by decoration, fashion and styling as seen in magazines & books but am mostly fanscinated when I meet extremely stylish people on the street, who know how to dress themselves and seem to be in contact and in peace with who they are. And the same goes for their homes.
Interior design can also stand for designing our inner selves, the key to true, long lasting happiness, which doesn't depend only on our temporary successes.
So here we reached again, down to the depth of it all, even having started talking about styling and fashion, that everything in life depends on our relationship with ourselves and the point to which we are aware of what is going on inside.
To me, most liberation and evolution takes place not when we recognise our good sides, but when we are also wise enough, sincere enough and brave enough to face these parts of us that are less shiny and happy, when we take the time to face our "deamons".
Funny enough it is then that they become smaller and smaller until they disappear....keeping them in the dark, out of fear or pride or whatever other reason, will only feed them to grow bigger...which in the end will return to one and only place: ourselves and our lives. We have the power in our hands and we should use it wisely!
